Sri Lanka--Christian Persecution in Sri Lanka

Asia: Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Report Last Updated: August 2003 Code: B-3 (Click here for a code description.)
	(Click here for a list of ICC articles on Sri Lanka.) List of Articles Last Updated: April 1, 2003

Religious Atmosphere:

Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity are all practiced in this country. Approximately 70% of the population is Buddhist with another 12% Hindu, 7% Muslim, and about 8% Christian. The Hindu population is mainly concentrated in the northern part of the country while the Christian segment is primarily in the West. The South is predominantly Buddhist.

Government:

• The Constitution gives Buddhism the foremost position but also provides for followers of other faiths to practice them freely. Major festivals of all faiths are celebrated as national holidays.
        
• For more than 30 years the government has restricted the entrance of new Jesuit clergy. This has mainly been the result of the wishes of the local Catholic Church which wants to replace foreign clergy with native Sri Lankans.
              
• Issues involving family law, divorce, child custody, and inheritance are adjudicated by the customary law of each religious group.

 Extremist Groups:

• The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - an insurgent organization fighting for a separate state for Sri Lanka's Tamil (and mainly Hindu) minority. The conflict is mainly with the national government, but members of all religious groups have been victims of LTTE violence at one time or another. Christians in the LTTE areas face extortion from the militants and sometimes see their children kidnapped into the Tamil army.
            
• Various extremist Buddhist groups exist. On a national level they are trying to draw up a new constitution which would prohibit religious conversions. At a local level they incite mobs to attack newly-formed churches and claim Christians have converted people in an unethical manner.

Recent Actions:

• Pita-Kotte. On the 3rd January 2004, the home of a pastor from the Foursquare Gospel Church was stoned at midnight.
   
• Mirigama. On the 4th of January 2004, the AOG church pastor was threatened to stop services.
   
• Kirimatiyana, Negombo. On the 4th January 2004, the AOG church was attacked. A shed used for storage was burned down.
   
• Anamaduwa. On the 4th of January 2004, a Foursquare Gospel Church pastor was accosted on the road and assaulted.
   
• Homagama. On the 4th January 2004, threats were issued to vacate the premises within 3 days. The church was withdrawn temporarily.
   
• Wadduwa. On the 4th of January 2004, an independent church was stoned and threatened and pressurized to close down.
   
• Wadduwa. On the 4th January 2004, the Christian Fellowship Church was under threat of attack by a large mob. Police negotiated with them to prevent an attack & sent away the congregation. Services stopped on advice of Police. (this church was previously mobbed on 28th December 2003. During that incident, a copy of the church registration was taken away by a monk).
   
• Homagama. On the 7th of January 2004, ‘Kithuhimi Sevana’ church was threatened by a gang of approximately 25 people to close the Church.
   
• Maharagama. On the 7th of January 2004, the Kings Revival Church was given an ultimatum by monks to close down within 7 days. (previously attacked on 28th December 2003.)
   
• Kumarakattuwa, Puttlam. During the first week of January 2004, a Margaya Fellowship pastor was threatened with death by unidentified persons, if he continued the church.
   
• Aandigama. During the first week of January 2004, a pastor from Margaya Fellowship was issued a death threat by a local monk.
   
• Pugoda. On the 10th of January 2004, a Foursquare Gospel Church member received a death threat from a group claiming to be followers of the late Ven. Soma Thero. Letter claimed to carry out the threat after the 3rd month remembrance almsgiving of the monk, which falls in March 2004.
   
• Thennekumbura. On the 10th of January 2004, the Good News Central Church was broken in to by a crowd of about 15 persons. Doors and windows were broken and a pew was set on fire. They were  chased away and fire was put out by church members. Speedy Police response prevented further damage.
   
• Matugama. On the 11th of January 2004, a gang of men attacked the Margaya Fellowship, causing damage to the building. The pastor and family with 2 children escaped.
   
• Homagama. On the 9th and 10th of January 2004, an independent prayer centre was under threat of attack. The local temple planed to mobilize thousands of Buddhists including monks to surround this home, the Courts and the Police station. Many of the churches in this area have withdrawn due to threats or attacks. This prayer centre is one of the few that remain. The suspects in the attack on the Homagama Catholic church that took place on 30th Nov. 2003 were to be produced in court on the following Monday 12th. Police were alerted to the situation.
   
• On the 11th of January 2004, about 5,000 monks and lay persons marched in an anti-Christian demonstration rally. The prayer centre was miraculously spared, and the demonstrators walked past the house. We thank and praise God for His faithfulness and thank all those who prayed and interceded on behalf of this household. The march ended at a nearby play ground. The demonstrators issued an ultimatum to the police to guarantee that suspects of the attack on the Catholic Church will not be taken to court on 12th (Mon). Police reportedly agreed not to produce any monks in court. (it is learned that one of the suspects is a monk).
   
• 2004-1 Announcements were made and handbills are being distributed calling for a massive Buddhist rally in Homagama on 25th January '04, to protest against Christian ministries. Prominent Buddhist monks are scheduled to address the crowds.
   
• August 2-3, 2003 - Five churches in the southern district of Galle were attacked by armed gangs of Buddhist monks. The churches affected were the Methodist church in Rathgama, the Assembly of God (AOG) Church in Thanamalwila, the AOG church in Lunugamwhehra and Calvary Church in Hikkaduwa. In Rathgama Brothers Mahesh and Richard were hospitalized for severe injuries and the church was damaged by the enraged mob. Pastor Ranjith of Lunugamwhehra was also beaten and the angry monks threatened to kill him if he did not close the church. (Compass Direct/WEA/ANS)
     
• March 2003 - The Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka reported that an anti-conversion bill similar to the one recently passed in India's Tamil Nadu state may soon be considered by Parliament. The Hindu Cultural Affairs Minister plans to introduce the bill, which is expected to have support among the Hindu and Buddhist communities. (ANS)
     
• December 25, 2002 - Masked attackers violently assaulted church planter Indrani Abeysinghe and her four adult children after cutting the electricity to the house. Mrs. Abeysinghe and her family were able to escape but have been traumatized by the incident. (WEA RLC)
      
• October 31, 2002 - A church and a Christian's home in Weerawilla were burned down by unknown assailants. The church was planted by the Assembly of God Worship Center, headed by Sister Lalani Jayasinghe whose husband was martyred in 1987 (EASL).
      
• October 18, 2002 - A pastor and his family were attacked while returning from a prayer meeting in Karukupana village. Ten or fifteen hooded men hit the family with bars, poles and clubs. The pastor and his 11-year-old son suffered head injuries, while his wife's arm was fractured (EASL).
       
• September 15, 2002 - The Lord is My Strength Worship Center in Padukka was attacked by an angry mob during a Sunday worship service. The mob was led by a Buddhist monk who ordered all those present to leave and began hitting the pastor with an umbrella and then a chair. Other members of the congregation were similarly assaulted, including a 10-month-old baby. The building was also totally destroyed. Local police have taken no action against the monk or the other attackers. (EASL)
      
• June 20, 2001 – A mob attacked the previous refugees (see June 15, 2001) of the Foursquare and Assemblies of God Churches with clubs and knives.  Five were seriously stabbed and admitted to a hospital.  Several others who were thrashed by clubs and poles were also admitted to the hospital.  (Crosswalk)
          
• June 15, 2001 – Hindu extremists assaulted the congregations of the Foursquare and the Assemblies of God.  44 Christian families, consisting of 77 persons, were forced to spend the night in the jungles and then suffered as refugees in a neighboring locale.   (Crosswalk)
        
• May 10, 2001 – Unknown assailants murdered a Christian priest in the town of Negombo. Father Bernard Costa was found lying in a pile of blood. His body had been cut at least 40 times; however, the cause of death was strangulation.
      
• April 29, 2001 – Buddhist extremists in Hasalaka threatened members of The Gospel for Asia Believers Church to leave the area. The church currently rents a building for its worship services and the owner of the building is being pressured to kick them out.
         
• April 28, 2001 – Buddhists in the town of Pandura held an anti-Christian rally and called for evangelical Christians to leave the area. Several pastors have been targeted, including Pastor Premadasa, a former Buddhist monk.
           
• March 15, 2001 – A worship hall in Hingurakgoda was set on fire. Around 600 Buddhist extremists later marched to call for the closure of the Christian ministry.
           
• February 18, 2001 – Over 100 angry Buddhist extremists attacked Sunday morning worshippers at the Sanasum Sevana (New Life) Church in Nuwarawatte, Hingurangoda district. The mob of Buddhists wielding clubs and machetes seriously injured a pastor and two elders of the church and wounded least 35 others. Extremists are now reportedly preventing church members from visiting the wounded Christians in the hospital. Though the district of Hingurangoda is a Buddhist stronghold, the church had co-existed peacefully for 15 years with the local community. However, a week before the attack on the church, the Sihala Urumay extremist group had warned church members to stop their activities.
            
• August 2000 – Six centers of an indigenous church in the Kalutara area were attacked by Buddhist monks for showing the JESUS film. Audio and video equipment was damaged and the workers were assaulted. Damage is estimated at US $8000.
         
• June 5-8, 2000 - About 220 evangelical pastors met in Marawila for the first ever conference devoted to preparing the church for persecution. Evangelical churches have been growing rapidly in recent years, which seems to be the reason for an escalation in violence and church burnings. Brother Andrew of Open Doors was a speaker at the conference.
         
• April 29, 2000 - A church in Galagamuwa in northwestern Sri Lanka was burned.
           
• April 2, 1999 - In Tissamaharama, southern Sri Lanka, two bombs were planted in an Assembly of God prayer hall that was under construction. One bomb exploded, causing some structural damage. Another bomb was found and diffused the next day. The widow of the church's former pastor said the bombs were planted there by Buddhist neighbors who had killed her husband in 1988 because of his vision to convert local Buddhists to Christianity.
           
• January 1, 1999 - The Calvary Prayer Centre at Udugampola was badly attacked. A mob pelted the church with stones, breaking some tiles and a fan. Six girls and two boys were injured as all those in attendance were assaulted. The pastor of the church, Newton Wijesingehe, fears for his family and congregation.
          
• March 1998 - Alexander Anthony, a Seventh Day Adventist pastor, was arrested on suspicion of terrorist activity. Once arrested he was beaten and forced to sign a confession. However, Anthony is a member of the Tamil ethnic group and does not read the Sinhalese language in which the confession was written. Police suspected that Anthony was involved with the Tamil Tigers, a band of revolutionaries in northern Sri Lanka who have been fighting for an autonomous Tamil homeland.
          
• December 14, 1997 - A mob of Buddhist clerics attacked an Assembly of God church in Matara. The attack resulted in severe damage to the church, and several members of the congregation were assaulted. Vehicles parked outside the church were also damaged. The attack seemed to be in retaliation for an incident a few days earlier. On December 11, Buddhists had placed a loudspeaker on a pole directly in front of the church. Police removed the loudspeaker, believing that it would disturb the church.

Prisoners: ICC has no reports of prisoners being held for their religious beliefs at this time.

Suggested Actions you might take:

• Pray for the Christians of Sri Lanka that they may be protected from harm and that the Christian message may be heard and received by all.
• Write a respectful letter to one or more of the government officials listed below. Express your continuing concern for the safety and well being of the Christian community in Sri Lanka. Request information about what steps the government is doing to ensure their protection and freedom to practice their faith laid out in the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights documents as well as their recently passed decree of religious freedom.
• Contact the elected national officials (Senators, Congressman etc.) for your area as well as the U.S. State Department and express concern for the well being of the Christians in Sri Lanka asking them to make an inquiry into their status.

Official Contacts:

*We make every attempt to keep up with and reflect changes in the national government of Sri Lanka and the current human rights situation. We appreciate your feedback if you find any discrepancies in this information. Also, please keep us informed of any replies or results you may receive! Contact ICC by email at icc@persecution.org. Thanks.

POSTED:  August 28, 2003

ICC Articles on Sri Lanka:

• April 2003 - Prayer - Indonesia, Muslim World, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Vietnam
• December 2002 - Prayer - Belarus, China, Cuba, Sri Lanka, Vietnam